Two months ago my wife and I retired from Ireland and landed in Portugal. Ah! thought I, after 12 years of part time home trading, I can now really concentrate on putting some substantial crusts on the table. Wrong! I figure the long expected market crash is due right about now. All the signs are there so it should be a simple matter of selling major Indices and currency pairs. With a relatively small IG index trading account I am very much aware of risk management. So why am I consistently loosing money even with 25 pip stop losses? For what its worth I use no Indicators and trade what the candles tell me on Month, Weekly and Day time frames and use 10 & 15 minute charts for entries. That’s it!
Another distortion is about the “fictional” ? Plunge Protection Team ? (look it up) - It is considered undesirabe nowadays for “Crashes” are considered to be a criticism of “Governments” and their “advisors” (National banks).
You are much better off - just using whatever weapons you have to trade "the world as it is - Not as you would like it to be"
Look at some of the movements on the bigger timescales - 25 pip stop loss is nothing if you are trying to predict turns on a larger timescale, it is HARD to get right !
Stop trading real money, do the babypips school and start trading DEMO account until you are profitable over six months or so.
THIS is NOT EASY ! read some of the “Journals” of those who have gone before you on here !
Wishing you all the best
F
[Edit
Currency Pairs ? - how is that logical ? If one of the pair goes down, the “Pair” actually goes down OR up ! depending on which it is that goes down. If BOTH go down, the pair will stay roughly the same - depending on the differential movement.]
Its always better to trade what you see rather than what you think or even what other people think.
Selling against a trend is like driving south on a north-bound carriage-way of a motorway. You’ll be a hero if you pull it off but how smart is it to take that risk?
As for 25 pip stop-losses, where does that come from?
I kept blowing off losses as exceptions until I decided that it’s not a matter of time but of self-improvement. Some take decades to be profitable while others take months.
I record videos of my screen before and after ever trade. I say everything I see on the charts and news while walking my future self through my trading plan, which includes what several other professionals think of the pair’s technical and fundamentals. Afterward I record again and see if my final decision was profitable, if there was something I didn’t see, and whether I stuck to my routine, plan, and mindset.
If I did, that means this trade can be used to perfect that routine, plan and mindset. Of course I link that to another journal in excel which includes my entry, SL and exits for statistical analysis.
Also, mind if I ask why the 25 pips?
If you trade different time frames and use the same stop loss, you might be hurting.
If you trade different pairs and use the same stop loss you might be hurting.
If you trade different markets (trending vs ranging) and use the same stop loss you might be hurting.
Ultimately, the problems have to be fixed psychologically first. Some traders take months to be profitably, others take decades and others never do. It’s not a matter of only time, but of self-edification.